Dirt Bib

ABSTRACT

The invention disclosed in this application is a cover for an excavator&#39;s bucket link and tipping link area designed to prevent the soil being excavated entering these areas and causing damage to the bushing and pins. The invention (10) consists of one or more flexible rectangular panels (13, 14) affixed to the excavator articulating arm by means of an attachment strap (11) such that the rectangular panel(s) cover the bucket link and tipping link area and extends down into the bucket of the excavator.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Provisional Patent Application No. 62/754,819

Filing Date: Nov. 2, 2018

Relationship: Provisional application is for the same invention

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

This invention was not made by an agency of the United States Governmentnor under a contract with an agency of the United States Government.

THE NAME OF THE PARTIES TO JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR ASA TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM (EFS-WEB)

Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINTINVENTOR

Invention has been used in inventor's privately owned business.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention is a protective cover that attaches to anexcavator's bucket and is designed to protect the bushings and pins inthe excavator's bucket line and tipping link that connects the excavatorbucket to the excavator's articulating arm.

The dirt and rocks contained in the soil being removed from a locationby an excavator often cause damage to unprotected bushings and pins inthe excavator's bucket link and tipping link. The plastic or rubbercovers for the bushings and pins provided on new excavators becomedamaged by rocks in the soil reducing or eliminating their protectionefficacy. Once the plastic or rubber cover is damaged beyond usefulness,excavator owners typically use a heavy grease coating to protect thebushings and pins from the soil being excavated. However, the heavygrease must be reapplied frequently as it attaches to the soil beingexcavated. Additionally, the heavy grease provides little protectionagainst rocks in the soil. The present invention is a cover for thebucket link and tipping link area designed to prevent the soil beingexcavated from entering these areas and causing damage to the bushingand pins.

Description of Related Art

U.S. Pat. No. 9,222,240 (Apparatus for Protecting Components of AnExcavator) is a protective cover designed to protect parts of theexcavator from falling debris during scratch operations, that is whenthe excavator bucket is being scraped along a surface that is at ahigher elevation than the boom, cab and engine of the excavator. Thisdiffers in the present invention as the present invention is designed toprotect specific components of the bucket and tipping links from soilduring digging operations. The invention in U.S. Pat. No. 9,222,240 isdesigned to protect the engine area from falling debris.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention disclosed in this application is a cover for anexcavator's bucket link and tipping link area designed to prevent thesoil being excavated entering these areas and causing damage to thebushing and pins. The invention consists of one or more rectangularpanels affixed to the excavator articulating arm by means of anattachment strap such that the rectangular panel(s) cover the bucketlink and tipping link area and extends down into the bucket of theexcavator.

Prototypes of the invention have manufactured from heavy grade rubbersimilar to that utilized for conveyor belts. The attachment strap isaffixed to the rectangular panel(s) by heavy duty rivets. However, it isenvisioned that other materials and methods may be used to construct theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a view of the invention (10) with a single rectangular panel(13) to which the attachment strap (11) is affixed to the rectangularpanel (13) with rivets (12).

FIG. 2 is view of the invention (10) with multiple rectangular panels(13, 14) to which the attachment strap (11) is affixed to the panels(13, 14) and the panels (13, 14) are affixed to each other with rivets(12). Further, FIG. 2 shows the invention (10) affixed to thearticulating arm of the excavator (a) and the panels (13, 14) protectingthe link area (b) and extending into the excavator's bucket (c).

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention disclosed in this application is a cover for anexcavator's bucket link and tipping link area designed to prevent thesoil being excavated entering these areas and causing damage to thebushing and pins. The invention (10) consists of one or more flexiblerectangular panels (13, 14) affixed to the excavator articulating arm bymeans of an attachment strap (11) such that the rectangular panel(s)cover the bucket link and tipping link area and extends down into thebucket of the excavator.

Prototypes of the invention have been manufactured by affixing therectangular panels (13, 14) and the attachment strap (11) to each otherby means of heavy duty rivets (12). The rectangular panels (13, 14) andthe attachment strap (11) have been constructed of heavy grade rubber ofthe type used for conveyor belts. However, it is envisioned that othermaterials and methods may be used to construct the invention.

The invention (10) provides a barrier between the soil being removed bythe excavator and the bushings and pins in the bucket and tipping linkof the excavator. As the excavator bucket digs into the soil, the soilbeing removed pushes the section of the rectangular panel (13, 14) thatextends into the bucket to the rear of the bucket with the upper sectionof the rectangular panel (13, 14) covering the link area. This inhibitsthe soil being excavated from entering into the link area.

Potential CPC patent classification for this invention:

-   -   Class E02: Hydraulic Engineering; Foundations; Soil Shifting    -   Sub-Class E02F—Dredging; Soil Shifting

The present invention described above and illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2is visualized as the preferred embodiment of the invention. It isenvisioned that this invention may be embodied in many different formsand should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forthherein. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that changesin forms and details may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the present application. It is therefore intended that thepresent invention be not limited to the exact forms and detailsdescribed and illustrated herein but falls within the scope of theappended claims.

The terminology used herein is for describing particular embodimentsonly and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As usedherein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the specification andrelevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions orconstructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”,“attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc.,another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to,coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements mayalso be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being,for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected”to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element,there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciatedby those of skill in the art that references to a stricture or featurethat is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions thatoverlap or underlie the adjacent feature.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A cover for an excavator's bucket line andtipping link area consisting of one or more flexible rectangular panelsand an attachment strap for affixing the cover to the excavator'sarticulating arm.
 2. A system for preventing damage to the bushing andpins of an excavator's bucket and tipping links from the entry ofexcavated soil into the areas, where said system consists of a cover forthe area comprised of one or more flexible rectangular panels which areattached to the excavator's articulating arm.